12 M. THE-THITSAR When I got Facebook accounts, my friends asked me to also have Messenger, and soon after that they all were on Instagram, and I also have to join Insta[gram]. Then, we formed groups on Facebook and Messengers . . . Thanks to these Facebook outlets, we now share updates about each other and everything, [like] the name of a new-born child in my village! Thus, while non-Facebook language groups may be seemingly disadvantaged as members of non-Facebook language groups, Facebook’s other functions allow them to commu­ nicate with each other verbally in their own languages. Access to information through ethnic media on Facebook In addition to allowing ethnic minorities to find information, share posts, and commu­ nicate with each other, Facebook promotes the use of minority languages and enhances intra-ethnic communication by offering ethnic media platforms. Figure 1 below provides estimated numbers of media pages on Facebook by different non-Bamar ethnic groups. The data shows that larger ethnic minorities (such as Karen, Kachin, Chin, Rakhine and Shan) have more media pages on Facebook than smaller groups such as Lisu, Ta'ang and Pa-O. The two exceptional cases are Naga and Danu, two smaller groups that have constitutionally-mandated ‘self-autonomous’ territories, which have no official news media pages. Interview respondents confirmed that there was no commercial news media page for Naga and Danu communities on Facebook, though there are some active news pages and group pages being run by some youth groups and individuals. All respondents said that they not only view the information posted on these ethnic media pages, but they also occasionally share the information either on their personal Facebook pages or forward them to friends through Messenger. About half of these popular pages use their relevant ethnic language, and the rest mainly use Burmese. Chin communities have the most media pages that use their own ethnic language, more than any other ethnic group covered in the study. They mainly use the two predominant Chin languages, Hakha and Falam, in terms of both written and broadcast news. Danu is exceptional because both Danu media pages and groups use Burmese script and dialect. Rakhine, like Danu, is another group that uses Burmese script. However, some Rakhine news pages use Burmese script but vary spellings to make them more closely resemble their own dialect. Thus their written language visually appears in Burmese script, but is unintelligible for Burmese and non-Rakhine speakers. Chin, Karen, Mon, Shan, and Kachin ethnic media primarily use own ethnic languages. Kayah, Ta'ang and Rakhine media mainly use Burmese. About one third of these popular media pages also use English in posting news. Most notable among them are Karen, Chin and Rohingya pages, which often present in English or are bilingual. Karen media uses English the most in broadcasting and written news. Naga and Danu communities have no formal or professional media service to disseminate news on Facebook. Some Naga news pages are based across the border in India, but these are private groups which are accessed by only a small proportion of the Naga population residing in Myanmar. A similar situation is reported by Danu respondents, who said the community had no formal ethnic media page on Facebook, but added that some local individuals, who work for state news media such as MRTV (Myanmar Radio and Television), would occasion­ ally share some local news and events. Ethnic media on Facebook therefore serves not